© 2020-2473 Chronodigger
Current gear
Computers: VIC-20 • Commodore 64 breadbin • Commodore 64c • Commodore 16 • Commodore Plus/4 • Commodore 128 • Commodore 128D • Amiga 500 • Amiga 600 • Amiga 1200 • Amiga CD32 • Amiga 2000 with NewTek Video Toaster Drives: Commodore 1541 • 1541 II • 1571 • 1581 • Enhancer 2000 • Blue Chip Printers: Commodore MPS1200 • Okimate 20 Monitors: Commodore 1084S • Other CRT displays, including the “Hannah Montana” specials Other: More stuff than I can list, accessories for Commodore and Amiga computers, hard drives, sidecars, and more modern things like C64 Reloaded, 1541 Ultimate II, Chameleon, Minimig, Casseiopeia, etc. Looking to donate? Check with me via email first, make sure it’s something I can use!
Research, preserve, educate
Sounds impressive, right? Well, it’s better than “cyberstalking,” I guess… Chronodigger™ is my personal mid-life crisis given form. My friends online call me Dino (pronounced dye-know), for probably obvious reasons. I was born in 1970, so by the time I was able to function and reason as a human being, this thing called a “personal computer” came into being. It led me to an eventual career in information technology, which is sadly devolving away as cloud computing wrests control from individuals and local businesses to provide “software as a service.” The magic was gone, so I turn to the computers of the past to try and regain what’s been lost. My goal is to start producing things about and for “vintage” computers to try and create an alternate timeline where people still have a desire to create stuff in their bedroom that can be enjoyed the world over. Yeah, we get it gramps, but what exactly are you going to do? In particular, I have several goals, at least to start. First, I’d like to start documenting my forays into programming for Commodore computers in assembly language, or in the case of the Amiga, probably a little bit of C as well. Why? Because procedural programming is the school of thought I believe in (as opposed to object-oriented programming). I have a couple of game ideas in mind that I want to use, and I’d like to highlight programming books and tutorials, both from the 1980’s and from today, on how to program for these systems. I’ve been dabbling in programming all my life, and it’s time I got more serious about it. In sharing my adventures, I hope others are inspired, too. Second, in going over the volumes of documentation that others are preserving regarding Commodore computers, in particular magazines of the era, I’ve come across an interesting thing. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, before the Internet made information easily accessible and mail became “electronic,” so to speak, many vendors and parties who worked with those computers would advertise with street addresses and phone numbers. Except for those who used PO boxes, most folks ran businesses right from their homes, business which in some cases became serious players in the market. It was a great illusion: people could take out ads in magazines and seem to be a large corporation, when in reality they were just a guy living next door. Most of those folks did not become millionaires, though, and so their stories are lost. I want to contact these folks, see if I can track them down after almost 40 years have passed, and hear and preserve their stories. I’ve got about a hundred research targets already identified from reviewing data for the past few years, so I won’t be running out of those stories anytime soon. Finally, even over the past ten to fifteen years, there are already early “retro computing” projects that have faded away. There are well over a dozen devices, for example, that I’m personally aware of that emulate a floppy drive, and at least half of them have come and gone already. I have literally the same equipment that some small television studios had at their disposal back in the day that I’ve taken years to assemble (an Amiga 2000 with a Video Toaster and some time-base correctors and associated gear) that I’d love to start showing off -- it wasn’t just the computer industry that was shaped by this technology, but the entertainment industry as well. I want to do my part and participate in and increase awareness of these technologies and projects so they can be preserved as well. Got it…so you want to strike it rich and make the Internet monies doing something you actually care about. Well, I certainly don’t see this becoming a full time profession. I’m more using the streaming and the monetary incentive to get me off my butt to actually do this stuff I’ve been talking about for years now, but if there’s enough interest and support, heck yeah I would like to make this my new career! The support you provide me financially, even if it’s small, will mean much more to me as an emotional value. In return, I plan on offering the usual perks -- early access to videos and research, input in game development, thanks and gratitude in video credits -- you know, the usual Patreon-system-type stuff. I’m fully aware I’m not the only one doing this, and I think that’s great! I love seeing more and more of this era of technology celebrated, but I’m the only me, and I think I have some interesting things to add to the mix.Cool Links
DLH’s Commodore Archive • This site is, to me, the greatest archive of old Commodore magazines and books, bar none. I’ve even scanned and contributed to it myself! I encourage you all to donate money and materials to this awesome site! It’s because of this site that I am able to perform my research. Individual Computers • A currently embattled yet prolific producer of accessories for Commodore and Amiga gear for decades now. Jens Schoenfeld is the mastermind behind it. I have several of their products, like the Turbo Chameleon 64, the C64 Reloaded, and some products that are no longer available, like the Catweasel. Visual 6502 • Okay, if you don’t think this one is cool, I can’t help you. The team here have exposed, photographed and documented the actual 6502 processor inside many early computers and created a visible simulation of it. Incredible as it may seem, this is the only actual documentation of the inner workings of the processor. All of the work that went into creating it was on paper and photograhic film, hand drawn. The story and the simulation will amaze you.
THE SEARCH
A dinosaur looks to celebrate the history of those
involved with Commodore computers.
Questions? Have old gear? Contact
me via email!
© 2020-2473 Chronodigger
Research,
preserve,
educate
Sounds impressive, right? Well, it’s better than “cyberstalking,” I guess… Chronodigger™ is my personal mid-life crisis given form. My friends online call me Dino (pronounced dye-know), for probably obvious reasons. I was born in 1970, so by the time I was able to function and reason as a human being, this thing called a “personal computer” came into being. It led me to an eventual career in information technology, which is sadly devolving away as cloud computing wrests control from individuals and local businesses to provide “software as a service.” The magic was gone, so I turn to the computers of the past to try and regain what’s been lost. My goal is to start producing things about and for “vintage” computers to try and create an alternate timeline where people still have a desire to create stuff in their bedroom that can be enjoyed the world over. Yeah, we get it gramps, but what exactly are you going to do? In particular, I have several goals, at least to start. First, I’d like to start documenting my forays into programming for Commodore computers in assembly language, or in the case of the Amiga, probably a little bit of C as well. Why? Because procedural programming is the school of thought I believe in (as opposed to object-oriented programming). I have a couple of game ideas in mind that I want to use, and I’d like to highlight programming books and tutorials, both from the 1980’s and from today, on how to program for these systems. I’ve been dabbling in programming all my life, and it’s time I got more serious about it. In sharing my adventures, I hope others are inspired, too. Second, in going over the volumes of documentation that others are preserving regarding Commodore computers, in particular magazines of the era, I’ve come across an interesting thing. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, before the Internet made information easily accessible and mail became “electronic,” so to speak, many vendors and parties who worked with those computers would advertise with street addresses and phone numbers. Except for those who used PO boxes, most folks ran businesses right from their homes, business which in some cases became serious players in the market. It was a great illusion: people could take out ads in magazines and seem to be a large corporation, when in reality they were just a guy living next door. Most of those folks did not become millionaires, though, and so their stories are lost. I want to contact these folks, see if I can track them down after almost 40 years have passed, and hear and preserve their stories. I’ve got about a hundred research targets already identified from reviewing data for the past few years, so I won’t be running out of those stories anytime soon. Finally, even over the past ten to fifteen years, there are already early “retro computing” projects that have faded away. There are well over a dozen devices, for example, that I’m personally aware of that emulate a floppy drive, and at least half of them have come and gone already. I have literally the same equipment that some small television studios had at their disposal back in the day that I’ve taken years to assemble (an Amiga 2000 with a Video Toaster and some time-base correctors and associated gear) that I’d love to start showing off -- it wasn’t just the computer industry that was shaped by this technology, but the entertainment industry as well. I want to do my part and participate in and increase awareness of these technologies and projects so they can be preserved as well. Got it…so you want to strike it rich and make the Internet monies doing something you actually care about. Well, I certainly don’t see this becoming a full time profession. I’m more using the streaming and the monetary incentive to get me off my butt to actually do this stuff I’ve been talking about for years now, but if there’s enough interest and support, heck yeah I would like to make this my new career! The support you provide me financially, even if it’s small, will mean much more to me as an emotional value. In return, I plan on offering the usual perks -- early access to videos and research, input in game development, thanks and gratitude in video credits -- you know, the usual Patreon-system-type stuff. I’m fully aware I’m not the only one doing this, and I think that’s great! I love seeing more and more of this era of technology celebrated, but I’m the only me, and I think I have some interesting things to add to the mix.Cool Links
DLH’s Commodore Archive • This site is, to me, the greatest archive of old Commodore magazines and books, bar none. I’ve even scanned and contributed to it myself! I encourage you all to donate money and materials to this awesome site! It’s because of this site that I am able to perform my research. Individual Computers • A currently embattled yet prolific producer of accessories for Commodore and Amiga gear for decades now. Jens Schoenfeld is the mastermind behind it. I have several of their products, like the Turbo Chameleon 64, the C64 Reloaded, and some products that are no longer available, like the Catweasel. Visual 6502 • Okay, if you don’t think this one is cool, I can’t help you. The team here have exposed, photographed and documented the actual 6502 processor inside many early computers and created a visible simulation of it. Incredible as it may seem, this is the only actual documentation of the inner workings of the processor. All of the work that went into creating it was on paper and photograhic film, hand drawn. The story and the simulation will amaze you.
THE SEARCH
A dinosaur looks to revive the
history of those involved with
Commodore computers.
Questions? Have old gear?
Contact me via email!
Current gear
Computers: VIC-20 • Commodore 64 breadbin • Commodore 64c • Commodore 16 • Commodore Plus/4 • Commodore 128 • Commodore 128D • Amiga 500 • Amiga 600 • Amiga 1200 • Amiga CD32 • Amiga 2000 with NewTek Video Toaster Drives: Commodore 1541 • 1541 II • 1571 • 1581 • Enhancer 2000 • Blue Chip Printers: Commodore MPS1200 • Okimate 20 Monitors: Commodore 1084S • Other CRT displays, including the “Hannah Montana” specials Other: More stuff than I can list, accessories for Commodore and Amiga computers, hard drives, sidecars, and more modern things like C64 Reloaded, 1541 Ultimate II, Chameleon, Minimig, Casseiopeia, etc. Looking to donate? Check with me via email first, make sure it’s something I can use!
